World's biggest plant discovered off Australian coast
The seagrass covers an area the size of about 20,000 football fields, researchers say
上图：研究人员说，海草占地约20，000个足球场。
地球上已知最大的植物 - 大约是比曼哈顿大三倍的海草 - 已经在澳大利亚海岸被发现。
The largest known plant on Earth - a seagrass roughly three times the size of Manhattan - has been discovered off the coast of Australia.
利用基因检测，科学家们已经确定西澳大利亚的一个大型水下草甸实际上是 一棵 植物！据信它已经从一粒种子孕育蔓延了至少 4，500年 。来自西澳大利亚大学的研究人员说，海草占地约200平方公里（77平方英里）。
Using genetic testing, scientists have determined a large underwater meadow in Western Australia is in fact one plant. It is believed to have spread from a single seed over at least 4,500 years. The seagrass covers about 200 sq km (77 sq miles), researchers from the University of Western Australia said.
The team stumbled upon the discovery by accident at Shark Bay, about 800km north of Perth.
上图: 该团队在珀斯以北约800公里的鲨鱼湾偶然发现了这一发现。
他们开始了解该物种的遗传多样性 - 也称为带状杂草 - 在澳大利亚海岸的部分地区很常见。研究人员从海湾对面收集了芽，并检查了18，000个遗传标记，以从每个样本中创建“指纹”。他们的目标是想弄清楚这块草甸上究竟有多少植物。
They had set out to understand the genetic diversity of the species - also known as ribbon weed - which is commonly found along parts of Australia's coast. Researchers collected shoots from across the bay and examined 18,000 genetic markers to create a "fingerprint" from each sample. They had aimed to discover how many plants made up the meadow.
世界上最大的植物
“答案让我们大吃一惊 - 只有一个！”该研究的主要作者Jane Edgeloe说。
“就是这样，只有一棵植物在鲨鱼湾扩展了180多公里，使其成为地球上已知的最大植物！
"The answer blew us away - there was just one!" said Jane Edgeloe, the study's lead author. "That's it, just one plant has expanded over 180km in Shark Bay, making it the largest known plant on Earth."
西澳大利亚州鲨鱼湾工厂鸟瞰图 An aerial view of the plant in Shark Bay, Western Australia
这种植物也因其很强的 抗逆性* 而让人印象深刻。它生长在海湾各处，能适应千差万别的生长条件。“它似乎非常有韧性，忍受了广泛的温度和盐度以及极端的高光照条件，对大多数植物来说这样的条件是非常苛刻的，”研究人员之一Elizabeth Sinclair博士说。
（小编注：植物的 抗逆性 ，农业科学术语，指植物具有的抵抗不利环境的某些性状；如抗寒，抗盐，抗病虫害等等）
The plant is also remarkable for its hardiness, having grown in locations across the bay with wildly variable conditions. "It appears to be really resilient, experiencing a wide range of temperatures and salinities plus extreme high light conditions, which together would typically be highly stressful for most plants," said Dr Elizabeth Sinclair, one of the researchers.
生长了4500年的植物
该物种通常像草坪一样生长，每年长高达35厘米。研究人员估计，它需要4500年的时间才能蔓延到目前的规模。
The species generally grows like a lawn at a rate of up to 35cm a year. This is how researchers estimated it has taken 4,500 years to sprawl to its current size.
该研究已发表在《英国皇家学会会刊B》杂志上。
The research has been published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
BBC News，悉尼